[00:00:00] Dr Renee White: Knowledge is power, and we are all about empowering the mamas of the world. In each episode, we will unravel and interpret the latest research and evidence-based practices for pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood. As mums and researchers ourselves, we have experienced firsthand the overwhelming complexity of information myths and those classic old wives tales. I'm Dr. Renee White, and this is the [00:00:30] Science of Motherhood.

[00:00:30] Dr Renee White: Hello and welcome to episode 173 of The Science of Motherhood. I am your host, Dr. Renee White. Thank you so much for joining me today. We have got one of our check-in Tuesday, episodes today, and it's something that has kind of uh, okay. I'll give you the backstory.

[00:00:51] Dr Renee White: I recently went to a marketing and business kind of, you know, workshop conference thing in Melbourne, [00:01:00] and you know, as you do with these things, you get asked over and over again. So what do you do? And it was really interesting. You know, there's like, you know, 150, 200 people there. And so you become very, very good at your elevator pitch, which is essentially, what you do in 30 seconds and in that time I obviously got very good at narrowing in exactly what I do, but a question that I [00:01:30] always get asked in particular is, you know, what is a doula? And you know, what does it mean to have a doula at your house? I guess, you know, what are the values, what are the benefits, and all of those things, and I thought, you know what?

[00:01:45] Dr Renee White: I'm gonna do a little poddy episode on this because I feel like, you know, as I say, if you get asked the question once, it's great twice, three times. Yeah, maybe. Maybe we wanna create some awareness and education around it. So [00:02:00] what I wanted to talk about in this episode was essentially what the benefits and values are of having a doula as a first time parent, because a lot of our families that we support.

[00:02:13] Dr Renee White: Our first time parents. It's a conversation that I have all the time, you know, and it typically goes with, hi, I've got a really great partner, supportive family, but we just kind of don't know what we're doing and we wanna know, [00:02:30] you know, what's normal? What's normal. We want someone who has walked this journey before and who can support us along the way.

[00:02:40] Dr Renee White: And I also wanted to kind of like debunk a few maybe myths and misconceptions along the way. You know, things like the difference between having a midwife and a private, you know, a private midwife and a doula. Those are the things that I want to kind of talk about in this episode. So. What we're gonna do is I'm gonna walk you through what a [00:03:00] doula does, how they can support you in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

[00:03:04] Dr Renee White: And I guess what makes Fill Your Cup Doulas unique because we are Australia's first doula village, and you know, given my science background, we have a few things that we do a little bit differently. So grab your cup of tea and let's get into it. Alright, first of all, what is a doula? And I said, doula, not jeweller.

[00:03:29] Dr Renee White: So many [00:03:30] people at the, at the conference was like a jeweler, and I was like, oh, no, no, no. A doula with a d. I was like, I love jewelry, but no, that's not my jam. So, first of all, let's clear up any misconceptions. A doula is not a midwife or a doctor, so we don't perform any medical procedures. Instead, we are essentially like your birth and postpartum cheerleaders.

[00:03:53] Dr Renee White: We are your emotional anchors, your practical support system and, [00:04:00] and in a nutshell, our goal is to ensure that you feel nurtured, informed, and empowered, right? Every step of the way and so when I was pregnant with my first baby, I thought I had everything covered. If you have listened to this podcast before, particularly my birth story, which I think is in episode, uh, three, and you followed along with our Instagram and you know, all the rest of it.

[00:04:26] Dr Renee White: You, you'll know that I had a very, very [00:04:30] supportive partner, but deep down what I really wanted was someone who just kind of got it. As I said, someone who could answer my questions at like 3:00 AM at night without any judgment. Remind me I wasn't alone in the chaos. And that is exactly what a doula does, right?

[00:04:49] Dr Renee White: So here at Fill Your Cup, let's walk through like what an experience looks like, okay? Because everyone loves the tools and the tangibles and the, you know, I [00:05:00] wanna touch it and feel it type thing. So at Fill Your Cup, what we stand by is that support isn't a luxury. Right. It's actually a necessity and we offer two levels of care. Essentially, we have a pregnancy and birth support, so this is for parents who want like a dedicated advocate during pregnancy and birth, we walk you through, you know, an ideal birth plan. We educate you on what to expect and ensure [00:05:30] essentially that you are feeling really, really confident about heading into labor.

[00:05:34] Dr Renee White: You wanna feel like we've totally got this. It's still obviously going to be a big, you know, thing, but you know, you wanna be able to walk into, you know, that entire event with confidence and feeling empowered about it. So once the big day arrives, your doula is there every step of the way in like, you know, offering encouragement, pain management techniques, [00:06:00] and emotional reassurance.

[00:06:02] Dr Renee White: Now, if you are wanting something like this, we've got like a beautiful offering. Um, it's called the Full Cup experience, and this is, this is our ultimate package. Like this is like the be all and end all, and I love it so much. So this kind of ensures your transition into parenthood is as smooth as possible.

[00:06:22] Dr Renee White: So what it kind of entails is two birth preparations, they're three hours long. If you're still not feeling confident [00:06:30] after the two sessions, we can offer a third. That is totally fine. You obviously get birth support, whether you're home or the hospital. So that's the other kind of real key difference here.

[00:06:41] Dr Renee White: Some people have said, oh, but you know, I'll have a dedicated midwife at the hospital. You know, do I really need a doula? And I'm like, yeah, that's totally fine. But, your midwife is probably not going to be at home with you and if you're planning on laboring at home for quite some time before you transfer to hospital, then [00:07:00] you know it will just be you and you know, whoever you choose as, as your birth support people around you.

[00:07:04] Dr Renee White: So your doula can actually be there for you at home, which is amazing. And then once you have your baby, you get like beautiful postpartum sessions at home where we make you these delicious meals. We do some lighthouse work, um, we do some baby wearing while you rest and you get a whole bunch of other things as well.

[00:07:27] Dr Renee White: So like a research brief, [00:07:30] which I feel like I need to do a whole other podcast episode on, which is. Maybe I'll do that in another one. You get all these goodies access to our educational platform, which is amazing. If you haven't heard about our Full Cup Village, get onto it. It is, um, on our website, ifillyourcup.com and then you go to offerings and it's in the planning section and essentially the full-up village is.

[00:07:56] Dr Renee White: Oh, you know that feeling when you're up at like [00:08:00] 4:00 AM and you're Googling is this normal? And you think, oh my goodness, I can't get my advice from a Facebook parenting forum and you want advice from kind of vetted experts, that's the Full Cup Village. So essentially it is eight of Australia's leading experts, all videoed, answering the top Googled questions by parents.

[00:08:22] Dr Renee White: That is the Full Cup Village. So have a look at that on our website 'cause that is an amazing resource. All of our families get 12 months subscription to [00:08:30] that, which is ah, amazing. So essentially like that's, that's a birth and postpartum doula experience. That whole, you know, walking you through pregnancy, and then you've got your birth, and then you've got your postpartum.

[00:08:46] Dr Renee White: And I guess if we were to kind of narrow in on that, like what, what's the day to day stuff? You know, what's the nitty gritty? So what does it actually look like in real life? Right? So [00:09:00] imagine this, okay, you're 38 weeks pregnant and the nerves are setting in, right? I know what I was like at 38 weeks pregnant.

[00:09:08] Dr Renee White: You, you text your doula at like 10:00 PM at night because they're on call by then because you're a little bit unsure about a new sensation you're feeling. And then, you know, within minutes you've got a reassuring response from your doula. Let's say labor begins, you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed.

[00:09:28] Dr Renee White: Your doula arrives, [00:09:30] helping you breathe through your contractions, suggesting positions to ease that kind of discomfort and pain, and also supporting your partner so they can support you, which I think is a really, I think it's a really undervalued part of having a doula. You know, the fact that that doula is supporting your partner as well.

[00:09:51] Dr Renee White: We are very mother centric, but you know, you can't, cannot beat that connection between you and your partner and your doula can help support them [00:10:00] along the way. And then after birth, in those really early hazy days, uh, your doula will visit your home and they'll prepare really beautiful nourishing meals, which are specific to postpartum recovery. Like we pride ourselves on our beautiful menu because of that. They tidy up offer you like a, a shoulder rub, which is just so good, especially if, uh, you choose to breastfeed. 'cause sometimes we just hold our shoulders up a lot when we're um, especially when we're starting out [00:10:30] feeding.

[00:10:30] Dr Renee White: So lovely shoulder rub. Hold your baby while you go have a shower or a nap. If you're struggling with breastfeeding or you've got some pelvic floor issues or something like that, we are there. We are helping organise, you know, um, allied Healthcare professionals to help facilitate some, you know, meetups and appointments and things like that.

[00:10:53] Dr Renee White: Does that sound amazing? I think that sounds amazing. God, I wish I had a doula with my first baby, oh my [00:11:00] goodness. Okay, so that's essentially in a nutshell what we do now. Why would first time parents benefit so much from a doula? Well, as I kind of alluded to first time parents, we often feel like we're drowning in information. You know, we've got the books, we've got the opinions, we've got the Google searches, and so what a doula can help you do is cut through all of that noise. You know, we're not there to tell you how to do things. We're [00:11:30] there to help you figure out what's best for you. So you will always hear our doulas kind of talk about the toolkit. You know here is the whole toolkit. We're gonna take tools out, we're gonna put them back. Whatever works for you and your family at the time. And I have to say another like big myth buster. Contrary to popular belief, doulas aren't just for hippie births. You know, where whether you're planning, like, you know, a medicated hospital birth, a C-section, a [00:12:00] home birth.

[00:12:01] Dr Renee White: Something in between. We're there to support your choices, not to impose, um, on our own. And I think that's really important note to make and I, I actually, we have had a lot of people kind of come to us who are like, you know what? I am choosing to have an elective cesarean, probably because they've heard my birth story and the fact that I've had an elective cesarean.

[00:12:23] Dr Renee White: Because they may feel that they're being judged by others and so this is a [00:12:30] very safe, safe space to choose whatever you wanna do and birth or however you like. We would always be there to help support you. So I guess you know what really makes Fill Your Cup doulas different. In a nutshell. There's probably kind of like four things.

[00:12:50] Dr Renee White: As I said, you know, I've got a science background, I've got a PhD in biochemistry. Got over 16 years of experience in health and medical [00:13:00] education, and so we pride ourselves on delivering nurturing care backed by evidence-based practices. You know, we, as I said to you before, the, the menu that we have is backed by science.

[00:13:16] Dr Renee White: And so what that means is I have curated the menu to nourish and replenish and restore. All of those lost micronutrients that our babies suck the life out of us with [00:13:30] and so everything is really intentional in how we have paired ingredients with one another. Again, we've got answers backed by science.

[00:13:39] Dr Renee White: So we offer these personalised research briefs because, you know, parenthood comes with questions like lots of them. So what we ask our families to do is, you know, submit your toughest challenges and we will provide a personalised science backed video response so you can make a really informed decision with confidence.

[00:13:58] Dr Renee White: There's no opinions, [00:14:00] it's just the facts. So our families really, really love that. And I guess the final point is that because we are Australia's first doula village, we can provide seamless continuity of care. So what does that entail? Essentially, you know, life happens, but your care shouldn't stop and our doula village model ensures that your primary doula, if they become unavailable, you know, a trained replacement steps in seamlessly [00:14:30] to provide uninterrupted support. So there's no need to repeat your story or anything like that. All the systems and operations behind the scenes take care of all of that. But most importantly, and this is why I called the village what it is, our doulas focus on filling your cup so that you can. Pour that into your baby and your family and yourself from a real place of [00:15:00] strength and confidence.

[00:15:02] Dr Renee White: So if you are a first time parent and you're feeling a little bit lost, know this, you do not have to do it alone. Doula care is about more than just birth. It's about feeling held, supported, confident in your transition to parenthood. So if you'd like to learn more about our Fill Your Cup Doula services, head over to our website ifillyourcup.com or reach out on Instagram. I'm always happy to have a chat over [00:15:30] there. We get lots and lots of parents coming over like saying, Hey, can we set up like a meeting? This sounds like really something we're looking for and things like that. Also, if you found the episode helpful, don't forget to share it with an expecting friend who might need a little extra support on their journey. Alright, everyone, until next time, take care and keep filling your cup.

[00:15:51] Dr Renee White: You loved this episode. Please hit the subscribe button and leave a review. If you know someone out there who would [00:16:00] also love to listen to this episode, please hit the share button so they can benefit from it as well.

[00:16:06] Dr Renee White: You've just listened to another episode of The Science of Motherhood proudly presented by Fill Your Cup, Australia's first doula village. Head to our website ifillyourcup.com to learn more about our birth and postpartum doula offerings where every mother we pledge to be the steady hand that guides you back to yourself. Ensuring you feel nurtured, [00:16:30] informed, and empowered so you can fully embrace the joy of motherhood with confidence. Until next time, bye.